A cold dark autumnal night is the ideal time to gather round to listen to ghost stories and the latest play on stage at Oldham Coliseum fits the bill perfectly.
When Darkness Falls delves into the question of whether ghosts exist and, more importantly, do we believe they exist.
The story centres on two men who come together on a storm-ridden night on the island of Guernsey.
One is an old history teacher who is adamant that he doesn’t believe in ghosts, while the other is a young man who is researching and exploring the possibility of spiritual forces - both good and evil (but mostly evil).
The teacher, John Blondel, played by Peter Duncan, is setting up a new podcast series and invites the young man, played by Daniel Rainford, as his first guest to speak about the paranormal.
The younger man says he has four tales to tell, so the teacher questions him about the stories, all the while recording it for his new venture.
So, while a storm brews outside the old-fashioned office in the school, strewn with papers and books, the researcher tells John, who is working for the Guernsey Historical Society, the apparent ghost stories which entwine with the history and folklore of the island.
The tales test John’s belief in the paranormal - and all this goes on with lights fading and flickering, loud bangs, books falling from shelves and drawers opening, making John, and the audience, more jittery as the story unfolds.
Each ghost story gets creepier and more intense, with one particularly disturbing tale of an English soldier who is tortured in an underground hospital during the Nazi occupation of Guernsey.
The tales also show John getting more nervous and the researcher more confident as the pair draw the attention of the audience. You couldn’t hear a sound in the theatre (except for a very creaky seat of the person in front of me!).
The two actors excel in their roles, with Daniel Rainford particularly commanding the room with his authoritative tale-telling.
The first half built up the scene for the second, very chilling, act. The script also gets stronger too, with the stories finally being pulled together and tying up any loose ends in the narrative.
A series of recordings of a young boy relating paranormal things he has seen, also add a chill to the air.
The whole production is played out in the chaotic teacher’s office and throughout you get a real sense of belief in the two characters, with both relying on the other to add integrity to their encounter.
The play also questions whether the paranormal is real or just imaginings of a disillusioned mind.
When Darkness Falls is a clever drama and perfect for a night out at this time of year.
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